Appalachia--Science in the Public Interest

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WASTE AS RESOURCE OPPORTUNITY

Waste problems seem insurmountable, but they are not so.

1. Waste into Resources

A multi-step approach to the waste dilemma is required. We
must target our consumer purchasing which, like alcohol
consumption, is an addiction. Malling is the habit of continual
shopping. With credit cards and a line of credit we can easily
buy unneeded items that will be outdated in a short time. Then
we have to dispose of them. Our waste stream is like a hangover,
the after-effects of the addict's bad practice of using and
disposing of consumer products. It involves a terrible distaste
for handling waste problems. Everyone wants to shuttle waste to
a lower portion of the social strata.

As with the Twelve-Step programs we need to view waste as
the result of bad habits. We need the recognition that we cannot
handle these problems alone. We need the help of Another. The
steps to be taken are again the four-Rs of sustainable resource
use -- reduce, reuse, repair, recycle.

The following are some worthwhile ways to handle common
domestic waste materials:

Reduce Wrapping and Packaging Waste. If you don't need the
purchase, don't buy. If you buy, don't wrap -- use a tote bag.
If the purchase must be wrapped, do it lightly. If wrapping can
not be used as tinder for a heating stove, use it as packing.
Product packaging is excessive. Production of a soft drink
container requires far more resources than does production of the
beverage itself. The packaging for a one-pound bag of dried
beans is a small percentage of that required for four or five
cans of processed beans (producing equal amounts of cooked
beans). For many foods (e.g. flour, nuts fruit, etc.) bulk
purchasing provides better economic and nutritional value.
Reduce the purchase of processed foods (e.g. frozen dinners); buy
from food cooperatives and "bring your own bag" markets; home
grow, or buy fresh rather than canned fruits and vegetables; and
eliminate or reduce soft drink purchases. See Supplement 1.

Compost Waste Materials. The flush toilet is one of the
most resource-wasteful elements of modern living, using up to
half of the domestic water consumed in residences. The compost
toilet is a low-cost and resource conserving alternative.
Through the process of aerobic decomposition, human excreta are
transformed into an innocuous nutrient-rich fertilizer. The
system is self-contained and waterless, and so its design can be
simple. Compost toilets can be easily constructed by a person
with elementary building skills and can eliminate domestic
sewage. Parks in several states have begun to use these toilets,
since they make economic sense and are a tool for environmental
education. Functioning compost toilet demonstrate safe and
appropriate technology. Through the use of carbonaceous medium
such as sawdust or ground-up yard wastes, their produce is
quality humus, which can be applied around trees, in flower beds
and berry patches. Sterile urine can be segregated from the
solid waste stream and applied directly to garden areas. A
combination of urine and sawdust grows excellent lettuce. See
Supplement 2.

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Example: Mount St. Francis at Dubuque, Iowa on the bluffs
near the Mississippi River tempts us to mention land related
superlatives because of its location with rolling contoured
farmland to the north and an urban area to the south -- a most
scenic location. This Franciscan community has maintained the
grounds and buildings quite well and have quite productive crops
of corn and hay as well as vegetables and fruit. The historic
retreat center is ideal for reflection and its higher elevation
and access makes it a treasured place to visit and stay awhile.
What strikes environmental assessors is the comprehensive nature
of the composting of lawn, farm and garden wastes and the reusing
of this material on the cultivated lands.
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* Greywater -- Greywater (all domestic waste water other
than from toilets) may be used to grow plants either in a
greenhouse or outdoors. If one installs a compost toilet, it may
also be feasible to separately gather pathogen-free greywater to
be used for outdoor or indoor plant watering. See WATER for
artificial wetland treatment.

* Garden Wastes -- Traditional gardeners reuse all crop
wastes in growing areas. Eventually such reuse should become the
route of all yard wastes and kitchen waste materials (except meat
and grease materials which can be fed to domestic animals).
According to a report prepared for the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency in 1988, yard waste comprised 20% of municipal
solid waste in this country, and food wastes made up another 9%.
These materials can be easily composted in a small scale,
backyard system using watering, mechanical stirring for aeration,
and the assistance of earthworms. Yard composters can be built
with what is at hand -- bamboo, wood slats, pallets, or sticks.
Proper layering of direct waste (e.g. kitchen scraps) and
carbonaceous materials (e.g. soil, grass clippings, etc.)
increases the speed of decomposition. Inoculation with a
commercial activator or manure is not necessary if previously
composted or rich soil is added to introduce friendly bacteria.
See Supplement 3.

* Yard Wastes -- Compost yard wastes with garden and
kitchen materials. A sturdy wood chipper is useful for reducing
yard wastes and especially tree branches of sizeable thickness to
wood chips for garden mulch and footpaths. Small branches can be
good tinder for wood burning. It would probably make more sense
to rent a large chipper occasionally than to buy one. The small
models sold for home use are slow and only handle small branches.
There is some question about the ecological impacts of wood
burning, in terms of both resource depletion and smoke emissions.
However, wood is a better heat source than fossil fuels when the
wood is harvested sustainably and burned efficiently. New types
of catalytic stoves are very efficient and less polluting than
older models.

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Example: Trinity Episcopal Cathedral at Columbia, South
Carolina is an excellent example of a church community trying to
ensure that recycling encompasses all aspects of a busy cathedral
physical facility. The block square establishment in downtown
Columbia includes administrative offices, a day care facility,
and extensive parking areas besides the Cathedral itself. A
small well designed outside building is used for storing
cardboard and sorted discarded materials. As an urban property
with limited space it is tempted to discard waste materials
rapidly. Kitchen wastes are composted at parishioner homes.
China is used for Sunday breakfasts to reduce use of disposables.
=================================================================

* Kitchen Wastes -- The domestic kitchen is the source of
waste including scraps from preparing foods, cooking leftovers,
and table scraps. This material is often bulky and can soon
become smelly. Something must be done ASAP. Construct a compost
bin and make it varmint-proof and capable of allowing the
earthworms to do the work of changing the materials back to
humus. Follow the same procedures as for yard wastes.

Reuse Discarded Materials

* Clothing -- Clothes should not be discarded because they
are out of fashion; most can be worn a little longer. However,
many affluent fashion-conscious people discard the contents of
their wardrobes each year or so and overcome their qualms of
conscience by giving the clothing away. They thus fill the waste
stream with materials that are often not deeply appreciated and
are ultimately burdensome to land-fill or incinerate. Choosing
fabrics by need and utility reduces this excess of materials, is
easier on the budget, and ultimately saves resources.

* Household Fabrics -- People should think of reuses for
fabric, e.g. making throw rugs with worn out jeans, stuffing
pillows with old materials, and making insulated window shades
with discarded cotton and other products. Quilts are also a
traditional way of utilizing waste fabric. Useable clothing and
fabrics can be placed in a yard sale or made available to the
needy through charity or thrift shop outlets.

* Furnishings -- What to do with bulky home furniture and
appliances that people cannot afford to move is always a problem.
Generally they are added to yard sales or to dumps when no one is
looking. This problem of reuse extends to a great assortment of
items in America's basement areas, attics, or tool rooms.
Generally wooden furnishings can be salvaged and reused. Keep
out of backyards unless "white goods" (gutted refrigerators or
freezers buried with door at the top) are used as a small cold
frame for fall and spring vegetable growing.

* Newsprint -- Newsprint can be used for bedding, for
mulching, and for garden pathways. It can also be used for
insulation, if treated with flame retardant. Perhaps the best
use of excessive newsprint is pressing it into logs and burning
it to heat space in winter.

* Building Materials -- See the PHYSICAL FACILITIES
chapter. The reuse of building materials of all types has one of
the greatest potentials for resource savings in the current
economy.

Recycle Materials.

* Glass -- Continue to work for returnable-bottle
legislation. Every state that has such legislation has far less
litter than states that do not. Buy less in glass containers and
make contents from scratch at home. Reuse containers and crush
for mixing in concrete when doing construction work. Recycle
whenever possible.

* Metals -- Most metals can be easily recycled especially
aluminum and copper. Metal cans and bimetallic products are
different matters. Never buy bimetallic and curb purchase of
soft drink and beer cans. As with the glass problem, work for
returnable regulations where they do not exist. Until then reuse
metals by flattening into strips and using for siding of
outbuildings, or by burying near fruit trees to add iron to soil.

Plastics -- Most plastics need not be purchased, but
where they are, ensure that a recycling program is in effect as
for soft drink and milk cartons. Plastic containers can be
reused at least until they deteriorate in sunlight. Some are
excellent for holding water used for storing heat in a
greenhouse. Gallon milk jugs can be recycled into plastic timber
that has use in decking and plastic lawn furniture. Generally we
do not advocate using even recycled plastic in homes.

Auto products -- Recycle rubber and waste oil or make
rubber products into door mats and borders for garden areas.
Waste oil can become a paint coating for stored tools.

Newsprint and Other Paper -- Some argue that we should not
purchase newspapers but rather obtain news from the electronic
media and in-depth periodicals. In point of fact, newspaper
circulation is static and actually declining. Newsprint is a
sizeable volume of our garbage (up to 10%). It is theoretically
possible to recycled newsprint, but, for the greater part,
newsprint is discarded or burnt in incinerators. The current
glut of recycled newsprint on the market, while new pulp and chip
mills using virgin materials continue to be built tells much
about non-ecological economic priorities. Office waste paper
that has been segregated is generally recycled. The junk mail is
another matter. One consultant facetiously suggests returning
all of it in the returnable postage paid envelope of the company
one least likes and allowing them to dispose of it properly at
their cost. This tactic is designed to help stop the
proliferation of junk mail. Burn all other scrap paper burn as
tinder where fires are allowed.

2. Publicity and Education

Much depends on a twofold practice of individual
responsibility and social regulation and education. Individual
responsibility includes:

* refraining from jumbling waste materials to a point where
they cannot be easily resorted;

* seeing that the bulk of waste materials are to be handled
in our own backyards, not dumped on a governmental unit;

* teaching others in the household and organization to use
proper waste management procedures.

Social responsibility involves:

* a broader scale of community collection, regulation and
recycling procedures;

* education in proper disposal methods for all ages;

* and a movement to curb the most blatant waste disposal
practices.

Publicity. We all take waste management for granted, but
that should not be the case. Publicize every step that your
organization takes to reverse wasteful trends. Serve as a model
for the wider community, demonstrating both technologies and
moral conviction in this area. Elimination of waste is a
statement of belief in the goodness of all creation. Proper
resource management is a type of peacemaking, a resolving of the
conflicts that exist in our society through wasteful practice.
Prominently marked sorting bins tell their own story. So many
people need to be educated on waste materials. Are educators
giving the message that planned obsolescence is a deliberate
practice foisted on an unsuspecting public? That's why we need
educational programs at all levels.

Eco-justice. Expose the practice of targeting poorer areas
for waste disposal. This applies to nuclear waste, toxic
industrial chemical waste, and domestic waste. Be willing to
help mobilize citizens to fight importation of waste materials.
Help the public realize that toxic, nuclear and domestic wastes
come at large social costs to the community, which must be
addressed long after the waste managers have left the scene.

Education. Many citizens are uneasy about sorting waste,
sending materials to recycling centers, and composting materials.
Their lack of confidence must not be misjudged. So often it is a
matter of demonstrating what is being done at your place, and
expecting that the on-site inspection will help people move
forward with their own waste management programs. You may wish
to hold open houses that will include your waste management work
as well as the highlights of the physical facilities.

3. Waste-Watcher Activities

In no sector is it more critical to involve the
environmentally conscious organization in a cooperative endeavor
with other like-minded persons than in the waste area. This is
because all oppose waste problems to some degree, and few really
want to do much about them. Likewise the manner of working on
waste is defined by individual involvement and a sophisticated
level of social consciousness, two qualities that do not always
go together. Your group may have as good a balance of the social
and the individual dimensions as any other.

Join citizens groups to fight waste. It is better to team
up with local grassroots groups,for they need community support
on waste issues. If these groups use confrontational tactics,
they will soon realize that waste issues do not remain popular
for any length of time. Your support will become all the more
important.

Challenge Waste Incinerators. Waste incinerators are
dangerous polluters. Advocate for waste treatment facilities
that compost materials.

Close Landfills. Help expose and close polluting landfills
and prevent new ones from being built. Some will undoubtedly say
that if your group is against both incinerators and landfills,
there is nothing left. This becomes an opportunity to expand the
waste discussion to include the four "r's" -- reduce, reuse,
repair, and recycle.

Advocate for Dry Compost Toilets. Develop strategies for
permitting dry composting toilets in your region or municipality.
As mentioned in the supplement, this is no small battle. Each
governing body must be taught that compost toilets are not
outhouses and are worthy of support because they are low-priced,
environmentally friendly, and easy to maintain.

Fight for a Bottle Deposit Bill. Reintroducing legislation
dealing with deposits on non-returnable bottles is an uphill
battle, even when such legislation has been a success in the
states in which it has been enacted. This is because soft drink
companies are committed to fighting any new legislation through
prepared advertisements that can quickly blanket the state and
through strong political pressure.

4. Celebration of Resources: An Eco-Yard Sale

Throughout this section we have spoken of our backyards as
the place for taking personal responsibility for our so-called
"waste" resources. We compost and recycle our waste materials in
our yards, and a yard sale is the perfect opportunity to
celebrate waste as a resource.

Sister Paula Gonzalez has an annual yard sale of items
donated for her environmental demonstration center in Cincinnati.
Over the years it has become a major success, attracting buyers
and sellers from all over the metropolitan area. Paula admits
that yard sales take time to organize -- soliciting donations,
arranging materials, publicizing the event, and conducting the
sale proper. Yard sales are money makers, but money does not
have to be the main purpose. At the sales, waste materials are
truly celebrated as resources worth passing on to others. If a
specific sale is successful, a similar event can be sponsored
each year.

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